almost time for new bulbs. need opinions

[oosurfin]

its almost time to replace my bulbs and im not sure what i want to get. im looking for a bulb with quite a bit of blue, for color since i wont have actinics, but still has a high par for fast growth rates. im thinking either sun burst 12k or a radium. i have 2x250w pfo standard ballasts. i like how bright the tank looks with the 10k and id like to keep as much of that as possible. ive been picking appart cnidarianreef's page but id like to hear from anyone who have every day use with thier bulbs, the differences they see with bulbs they have used recently vs their previous bulbs. tia

justin

[BryanJ]

AB 10k, AB 20k or the radium. The Radium is the bluest. I have the Coralvue 20k but I have heard complaints of the bulb being inconsistent. I have not decided If I want to stay with them yet but for the price difference I feel compelled to at least try one more time before passing judgement and saying I was one of the lucky ones and got good bulbs.

[Herbert T. Kornfeld]

Aquaconnect 14,000K will do you right. Unlike many others, this 14,000K has an intensity close to a 10,000K, and looks like a nice crisp day-blue without the greenish look like hamiltons.

[oosurfin]

from what people have sead in another part of these forums is that i need an hqi ballast or pulse start to run it. i have the pfo standard magnetic m58. the radiums i cant run unfortunatly i wish i could but it isnt an option with my ballast and i dont want to upgrade either. according to jbny the coral vue 20k has the highest par and looks quite blue from his pictures. i have been leaning the way of the cv20k. thanks for your input guys. anyone else care to enlighten?

[jay24k]

I wouldn't do the aquaconnect if you are looking for blue. Maybe the HQI bulb but not SE. If you really want blue with a decent par, then the XM 20K might be worth it for you. Check out Sanjay's lighting thread. I don't think you are going to get that high of a par on any bluer bulb.

[oosurfin]

it does not have to be super blue. something nice between 10 and 20k like a 14k or a 15k would be nice. i just want that nice crisp white blue color that looks well balenced.

[jay24k]

IMO the AC SE bulb is not blue at all. It's really a white crisp bulb. You are probably looking for something in the 14k but imo the hamilitons aren't high on par. I wish someone would just make a bulb that was not as blue as a 20k but good par.

[Herbert T. Kornfeld]

Oh, if you reallyu want more blue, then a 20,000K is in order. I thought you were going for daylight w/o the need for actinic.